Democrats have deluged their candidates’ campaigns and causes with cash in record amounts since the death Friday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, donating tens of millions of dollars in less than 24 hours.
ActBlue, a key fundraising platform for the left, had taken in more than $72 million just before 6:00 p.m. on Saturday since the news broke Friday night. Using ActBlue, donors earmark money for Democratic candidates and causes they want to support.
In August, ActBlue brought in about $15.7 million a day, a fraction of what’s been raised since Ginsburg’s death, for a total of $485.4 million.
It won’t be clear which federal candidates and committees have gotten money until ActBlue reports to the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 20.
The site processes grassroots donations for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign against President Donald Trump, as well as for Senate candidates and key liberal groups.
While the Biden campaign refrained from including a fundraising link in an email sent to supporters on Friday night, one was included in a Saturday morning message signed by vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which raises money for Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, sent email pitches to donors Saturday praising Ginsburg as “an amazing woman who led an amazing life” while asserting that “we have an obligation to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.” A text message from the campaign promised that Trump would appoint a conservative justice to fill the vacancy.
Trump said Saturday that he expects to nominate a replacement for Ginsburg next week and that he’ll likely select a woman. He added that it “would be very good” if the Senate confirmed his choice before the Nov. 3 election.
Democrats, however, oppose any nomination until after the election.
Progressive groups that focus on the presidential election, control of the Senate and Supreme Court confirmation battles saw larger receipts.
“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in funding in the wake of last night’s news,” said Max Steele, a senior adviser for communications at American Bridge PAC, a super-PAC that’s been airing ads trying to flip Trump voters to Biden in battleground states. “Democrats are fired up.”
Between 8 pm Friday and noon Saturday, the Get Mitch or Die Trying Fund, a web page that raises money for Democrats running against incumbent Republican senators, took in more than $12 million. That accounted for 25% of ActBlue’s fundraising through that period according to Crooked Media, the progressive group that runs the page. Before Ginsburg’s death, the page had raised $3.5 million.
As the Get Mitch effort topped $15 million Saturday afternoon, Crooked Media co-founder Tommy Vietor raised the goal to $20 million.
A person who raises money for the Democratic National Committee, who asked not to be identified because he doesn’t speak for the party, said the coming fight over Ginsburg’s seat will boost donations to both sides. He now believes that Biden and the DNC will exceed the record $364.5 million raised in August.
The name of Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath, the Democratic challenger to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was trending on Twitter on Saturday as users debated whether it was worthwhile to give to her, or to give to other Democratic Senate hopefuls who have a better chance at flipping a GOP seat.
Demand Justice, an advocacy group that’s pledged to spend $10 million to block confirmation of any Supreme Court nominee before Inauguration Day in January, has also benefited from the deluge. “We’ve seen a significant increase in online fundraising,” said Colin Diersing, the group’s communications director, though he added that he didn’t have exact numbers.
GOP fundraiser Dan Eberhart said Ginsburg’s death would energize Republican donors, too.
“This is going to reactivate a considerable swath of donors that were either done giving this cycle or weren’t going to give,” Eberhart said.
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